8/6/11

This has to be the fastest meal I've ever made. How these came about? We all know the familiar sad pre-dinner scene: look into fridge, see nothing but condiments, beverages, and something rotting in the vegetable drawer. Closing the fridge door in frustration I see all the tomatoes on the counter, then realize I did just see cheese in the fridge. Plus the fact that my fridge/freezer does always have an abundance of pie crusts: homemade and pre-made. Score. I have dinner. One of the favorite ways to use up fresh tomatoes from the garden is in tomato and cheese sammies with a hint of mayo. I love them, especially if you use a good, thick, whole grain bread. So if these two ingredients are good in a sandwich then why not a hand pie? Almost like a grilled cheese with extra, crispy crust? Kind of. You get the idea.

And since we're on the subject of savory pies--do you know that my tomato pie is the 3rd highest downloaded recipe this summer? Good to know. It's a good pie for hot summer nights paired with cold white wine.
Have I ever made a 'savory something' with pre-made pie crusts? Yes, I've made cheese sticks. (I promise to do a post on that soon).

Cook notes:
I’ve left out the quantities as you can make as little or much as you like. Typically it’s about 3 slices of tomato on the inside of the pie and one slice on the top of the pie. Please slice the tomatoes really thin, and let them dry out a bit on paper towels. You don’t want juicy tomatoes weighing down or steaming up the inside of the hand pies.

When ready to bake. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Lay out your crusts in a circle (or square). Cut them in half, put down a layer of tomatoes (about 3 slices), then top with a few slices of cheese—don’t let cheese get too close to edges.
Fold over the other half of the pie crust, seal all edges; crimp with a fork. Place a slice tomato on the top of the hand pie, brush with a little extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Make sure to prick a few holes on top to let any steam escape during baking.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges are nice and crispy brown. I like them a little overdone. Do what you like.

Ok, yes please and thank you very much. We have somewhat sad tomato offerings in our fair city and kind of sucky climate but make this way, even our tomatoes would be delicious. Like you, I always have some kind of crust in the freezer. Score!

This is why you are a successful blogger and I'm not! :-) Such a perfect idea, and you could do so many variations with different vegetables and cheeses. There is something so comforting about this kind of old-fashioned food: like Cornish pasties, pirogie, etc. Thanks for the inspiration!

This looks really easy, but absolutely delicious. I want to make these ... maybe add some of my tons of zucchini that I have to the inside so that it kind of resembles a portable version of a ricotta zucchini galette ..

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com